Our Little Secret
by everlovingdeer
Summary: "If only you weren't a Potter," he said part teasing, part serious as he pressed his forehead to mine, "we could have told everyone about this a long time ago."
1. Our Little Secret

After another busy day filled with mind-numbingly boring lessons, we had all retired to the great hall for dinner, prepared to call it a day. The girls had been talking about the latest scandal circulating the school. Apparently, the head boy had been caught secretly dating the head girl. And the reason it needed to be a secret? Well, the head boy had been publicly dating the head girl's best friend for months now. Honestly, you just couldn't trust anyone anymore.

"It was bound to happen," Ginny said with a roll of her eyes as my looked to the opposite end of the great hall.

I watched as Draco rose to his feet, preparing to retire for the night. He knew I was watching him and as a result, he reached up to undo his tie only to fix it again. A smile bloomed on my features as I looked down to my plate; that meant he wanted to meet up.

"Are you even listening to me?" Ginny asked exasperated, nudging me with her elbow.

I blinked coming out of my thoughts, "Sorry, what was that?"

"I was just saying that trying to keep a secret relationship is pointless." She rolled her eyes, completely ignoring the way I started to uncomfortably pick at my food. "This _is_ Hogwarts – things like that don't stay a secret for long."

"I guess," I muttered uncertainly. No one had noticed that Draco and I had been dating since the end of my third year. Merlin, Harry had been so worried about staying alive while participating in that ridiculous tournament that he didn't notice. And he certainly had no reason to find out now.

"Are you finished?" Ginny gestured to my plate which I hadn't touched in a while.

"I'm stuffed," I explained.

"Come on, then." Rising to her feet, she waited for me to do the same before we both walked out of the great hall. "We should get back to the common room."

"About that," I trailed off slowly, hurrying away from her, "I need to stop by the library."

She called out from behind me, "But curfew –"

"I'll be back before it," I assured her, turning the corner.

Once I turned the corner, I waited for a few minutes. After biding my time, I peeked around the corner and saw that sure enough, she had climbed the stairs towards the common room. Seeing that the coast was clear, I ran back in the direction we had walked in. I took the familiar path to the abandoned classroom and walked in without hesitation.

Shutting the door behind me, I looked around the room and found Draco sitting at the back of the classroom with his feet on top of the desk. At the sight of me, he pushed away from the desk and walked towards me. Before he could crowd me into the corner in that rather cliché manner that he liked, I dodged around him and heard him sigh behind me. He turned to watch as I walked into the classroom and jumped slightly so I could sit on the table.

"I missed you," he said honestly, walking towards me.

My eyebrows rose in surprise and I teased, "Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?"

"It's the truth," he defended sharply, narrowing his eyes at me as he stepped between my legs. "Clearly, I missed you more than you missed me, Potter."

"Do you expect me to contradict your words?"

He raised an eyebrow at my words, drawing back with an incredulous chuckle, "You've been learning how to play hard to get."

"Well we can't have you getting bored, now can we?"

"Never." Reaching towards me, he pressed his hands against the table on either side of my hips.

"Ok, lover boy," I muttered, pushing at his shoulder but he didn't move away from me.

Instead he leaned closer to me to kiss me. By the time we pulled away, we were grinning and my hands had made their way into his hair, ruining his usually immaculate hair. Not that he cared. Untangling my fingers from his hair, I made a slight effort to fix it before giving up. His hands which had found themselves resting on my waist, squeezed me once before returned to the table top.

"If only you weren't a Potter," he said part teasing, part serious as he pressed his forehead to mine, "we could have told everyone about this a long time ago."

"If you weren't a Malfoy," I returned, only slightly teasing, "we'd have been able to tell everyone. But we can't. Harry would kill you."

"I'm not scared of your brother," he snorted before adding thoughtfully, "No doubt Snape would have a fit if he ever found out."

"Well I can bet you that Dumbledore would support us." Draco rolled his eyes at my words, "He would – he'd probably see us as a prime example of interhouse unity or something."

"Especially between Slytherin and Gryffindor." Looking down at his watch, Draco drew away from me with a sigh, "Curfew will begin soon."

"I should get going," I murmured with a frown, waiting for him to move away from me so I could leave. He didn't budge and remained standing stubbornly where he was. " _Draco_."

"I'm a prefect," he said lowly, pressing another quick kiss to my lips. "I can be out after curfew."

"Well I can't."

"I'll walk you back to your common room," he offered, removing his arms from around me so I could jump down from where I was sat.

"Like that wouldn't be suspicious." Rolling my eyes, I headed towards the door. "Besides, I doubt Umbridge would like the leader of her Inquisitorial Squad to be seen with Harry Potter's little sister."

I heard him sigh from behind me, my words cutting a little deeper than I had intended to. But I couldn't take them back.

"Hogsmeade is coming up this weekend," he reminded me quietly, coming up from behind me, "do you think you'd be able to sneak away from your friends for a little bit?"

"I'll try."

* * *

When I had returned from my meeting with Draco, it was just before curfew and I had settled onto the sofa beside Ginny as she spoke to Neville. The pair briefly acknowledged my presence and I joined in with their conversation, thankful that no one had caught me with Draco. Merlin, keeping this secret was extremely difficult.

The next morning when I woke up, I was running late. I hurried to dress and went to rush out of the dorm when Ginny stepped in my way, blocking the door. Giving her a curious look, I tied my hair into a ponytail and waited for her to speak like I knew she eventually would.

"You have a boyfriend, don't you?" she demanded suddenly, startling me. My eyes widened and I cleared my throat, not sure how to progress. I'd never even thought that I'd get caught. Ginny grinned at my sudden silence before speaking excitedly. "I knew it! You've been acting suspiciously. So, who is it?"

I shook my head, refusing to answer her and ducked past to leave the dorm. She was right on my tail, frowning at my refusal to tell her. We walked through the common room as Ginny continued to try and get details out of me. I refused to answer any of her questions and by the time we left the common room, she changed her tactic.

"Fine," she sighed as we walked towards the great hall, "if you can't tell me _who_ your dating, then at least tell me how long you've been dating for?"

Turning to look at Ginny, I recognised the determined glint in her eyes. Godric, she wasn't going to let this go until I told her something. With a sigh, I acquiesced and answered her, "Since the end of my third year."

She let out a low whistle, "That's a _long_ time. Over a year."

"I know."

Concern briefly coloured her features as she reached out to put a hand on my arm, "If it's been over a year and you still haven't told anyone –"

She was cut off abruptly as someone hurried out from behind us as if to pass us by but they caught me on the shoulder, sending my bag flying. Ginny glared at the three Slytherins standing in front of us and I rolled my eyes.

"You're so bloody immature," I muttered, making sure Draco heard me as I kneeled down on the floor to gather my papers.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going Potter?"

I looked up at him from where I was kneeling on the floor and scrunched my nose, "You watch it Malfoy – maybe you should control your goons better."

"Oh please, it's not like they can help it if you're taking up too much of the hallway." Arching an eyebrow, he leaned down to help me pick my things up.

Ginny watched him in surprised and I wanted to hit Draco. Merlin, why was he doing things he wouldn't normally do? Why couldn't he just give me the whole usual stupid Potter spiel and then disappear. Instead, he continued to pick up my papers, even as Ginny called him out on his odd behaviour. He held out the parchment for me to take and our hands briefly brushed as I took them off of him. One side of his lips pulled up as he rose to his feet, turning his eyes to Ginny.

"Weaslette," he greeted as I stood too, slinging my bag over my shoulder. "I didn't realise you were here. But then again, where one Potter goes, there's sure to be a Weasel not far behind."

I went to intercede, telling him he'd gone too far but Ginny merely shook her head.

"You're pathetic, Malfoy." Linking her arm through mine, Ginny led me away from the Slytherins and into the great hall. "What a bloody arsehole."

"I know, right," I agreed weakly. I thought Draco had agreed to lay off from my friends. And yet here he was, continuing with his usual Weaslette rubbish.

"Although," Ginny drew out the word as we walked into the hall and headed towards the Gryffindor table, "he was acting strangely."

"Was he?"

"Definitely." She shook her head to dismiss the thought and we sat down at the Gryffindor table for breakfast. Spooning some food onto her plate, she sent me a contemplative glance, "You've been dating this guy for over a year now and haven't told anyone. Are you dating someone you shouldn't? Like Malfoy?" My heart froze for a second, refusing to work. She chuckled suddenly, the sound bringing me great relief. "Merlin, you should have seen your face. I know Malfoy disgusts you but –"

"What's Malfoy done now?" Harry questioned as he and his friends took a seat at the table, across from Ginny and me.

"He just bumped into us," she explained, sharing a look with me which promised that the boyfriend conversation was over for now. She knew better than I did, how annoying protective older brothers could be.

* * *

When the Hogsmeade trip finally came, I continued to make attempts to sneak away from my friends to meet Draco in our usual meeting spot. But it was quickly proving impossible to do. Merlin, I was never going to be able to get away from everyone. We were currently sat in the Three Broomsticks and everyone around me was talking about DA business and I couldn't exactly sneak out.

The conversation ended abruptly as someone entered the Three Broomsticks. Harry turned away from the door, making me frown but when I looked up I knew the reason why. Draco and his goons were stood in the doorway, entering the Three Broomsticks. He looked around, raising an eyebrow when his eyes landed on me before he led his friends over to a table. I sunk a little into my seat; he had grown bored of waiting for me and had decided to join his friends.

"Well," I said into the silence, bringing the table's attention to me. Looking to Ginny, I linked my arm through hers, "since we're finished, why don't we go to Honeydukes?"

She agreed, rising to her feet and we said goodbye to everyone. If I seemed in a rush to leave the Three Broomsticks then Ginny didn't comment on it. Merlin, I felt like I was suffocating under Draco's stare, especially because I was sat with Harry. Whenever I was around Harry the guilt of hiding my relationship with Draco from him began to eat me up from the inside. I had noticed that I had the habit if wanting to leave Harry behind, just to ease my guilt.

None of this was fair.

Once we stepped out of the Three Broomsticks and were hit by the crisp breeze, I found it much easier to breath. From beside me, Ginny was chattering about something that I should have been paying attention to and I felt bad for not paying attention to her. But my mind was occupied with other thoughts.

She continued to talk as we stepped into Honeydukes and navigated our way around the different aisles. Ginny began to look through the new releases whilst I absentmindedly rifled through the shelves. Was it worth it?

Not that I would ever admit it aloud, but since Draco and I had begun dating, I always found myself wondering whether dating Draco was worth the secrecy. Not only was I lying to my brother but to my friends too. I wasn't stupid enough to think that this was morally right either. According to Harry there was a war approaching us and when it did arrive, the chances were that we would find ourselves on opposite sides. Wasn't it better to cut my losses now? True, I'd never felt about a guy the way I felt for Draco, but was the secrecy worth it?

I startled from my thoughts, feeling a hand brush against my own. Looking to the person standing beside me, I felt my eyebrows pull up in surprise when warm grey eyes stared down at me. Scanning the area around me, I realised that at some point whilst I had been lost in my thoughts, Ginny had walked towards another display shelf. She had no idea who she had left me with.

"When did you get here?" I asked quietly, looking up into his eyes.

"I followed you out of the Three Broomsticks," he answered honestly, lowering his voice so as not to draw attention to us, "I wanted to see you."

"I'm sorry," I said with a small sigh, "We were busy sorting something out so I couldn't come and find you."

"What was it that kept you busy?" he wondered, reaching out to tuck some of my hair behind my ear.

Swallowing tightly, I smothered down the feeling that I was deceiving him. I couldn't tell him that we had been sorting out things for the next DA meeting. He had received orders to keep an eye on my brother's activity and I wasn't going to lead him to Harry. Draco was one of Umbridge's spies.

"Ginny's birthday is coming up," I lied, giving him a reassuring smile. "We were just thinking about what to do to celebrate it."

Draco said nothing for a moment before nodding. "Maybe we should meet up tomorrow after lunch, then?"

"We can't," I protested; the next DA meeting was supposed to happen then. "Why don't we do before lunch instead? It is Sunday tomorrow?"

"I don't care when I see you," he murmured, bringing his head towards mine to press a quick kiss to my cheek, "as long as I _get_ to see you."

"I wonder what your friends would say if they could see the 'Slytherin Prince' right now." I teased with a smile, trying to make him lighten up. It worked, he rolled his eyes and scoffed to hide a smile. He wasn't very successful.

"They'd hex me," he said honestly before drawing up to his full height, "I should get going."

As I watched him go with a regretful smile, I had one thought; he was worth it. All the secrecy and the lies were worth the small moments that I got to spend with him. I watched as Draco headed towards Crabbe and Goyle who were busy grabbing arms full of chocolate. They smarted when Draco walked towards them and together, the three of them headed towards the counter.

I counted to 30 before heading off to find Ginny.

* * *

The great hall was buzzing with adrenaline for the build up to yet another quidditch match; Slytherin vs Ravenclaw. Harry was in a foul mood at the reminder that he had been banned from playing quidditch. And Merlin, I had to agree that it was majorly unfair that the toad had gone and banned him. But it wasn't as if anyone could go and talk sense to the woman – she'd probably stick us in detention for even daring to question her.

Godric, she pissed me off.

I looked around the hall, listening absentmindedly as Ron and Harry talked about how unfair it was that the Slytherins were being treated so well in comparison to the rest of the school. My eyes strayed to the Slytherin table, as they always did and settled on Draco as he sat, talking to other members of the quidditch team. The captain, Montague, rose to his feet and just like that, the Slytherin team slowly filtered out of the great hall. Draco hanged back and was the last to leave, glancing at the Gryffindor table and meeting my eyes.

"What the hell does _he_ want?" Ron grouched, eyes on Draco.

I hurried to avert my eyes just in time to see Harry throw a glare at Draco. With a sigh, he turned back to his plate, absentmindedly picking at it; it really bugged him that he couldn't play quidditch. I reached out to put a hand on top of Harry's and squeezed it gently. He smiled gratefully, nudging Ron who was still having a staring competition with Draco.

"Leave it Ron."

"Who does he think he is; trying to rub it in that you can't play quidditch."

"I don't think that's what he was doing," I defended weakly, getting identically outraged looks from the two boys.

Ron and Harry shared a look, silently questioning my sanity before engaging in a conversation. From the corner of my eye I saw Draco leave the great hall and began to count to 100. Once I reached 100, I rose to my feet and cleared my throat.

"I need to stop by the common room," I explained, "I'll meet you at the pitch? Make sure to save me a seat Harry."

Before either of them could speak another word, I was walking away from the Gryffindor table and exiting the great hall. As I stepped out into the hallway, I pursed my lips and wondered where Draco had gone off to. Turning the corner, I found him leaning against the wall, waiting for me.

"I thought I'd have to wait longer," he called out as I approached him, "Merlin knows I expected your brother and his dead brained sidekick to keep you longer."

"Leave Ron alone," I defended as he pushed away from the wall, "he's just quick to act on things."

"Because he has no brain."

"Draco," I warned as I reached his side, "one more word and I'm going back to them."

"Alright, sorry." He reached out to take my hand and pressed a kiss to my palm, "I won't pick on him for now."

He smirked against my palm and I pushed him away. "You're unbelievable." Raising an eyebrow, I asked, "Is there a reason you wanted me to follow you out, or –?"

"Walk with me to the quidditch pitch?" Draco took my hand again, linking my fingers through his. He started to walk even before I consented and I did nothing but sigh and drop into step beside him.

"Aren't you worried about people seeing?"

"Merlin knows enough people have seen us talking but haven't put anything together." He rolled his eyes as we stepped out of the castle.

"They all assume that you're picking on me." I glanced down at our linked hands and asked, "Don't you think the handholding will be a bit of a giveaway?"

"Look around you sweetheart," he gestured around the open castle grounds. "Do you see anyone? Because I don't."

"Oh, be quiet, you know-it-all."

"I'm not the know-it-all, your brother's piece on the side is."

" _Draco_."

He sighed, struggling not to smile, "Sorry, that one was an accident."

I narrowed my eyes, "Sure it was."

Grinning innocently down at me, he chuckled when I rolled my eyes. When we arrived at the quidditch pitch he led me towards the stands as the rest of his team prepared for the match.

"Well what am I going to do now?" I wondered, looking to the empty stands, "No one else is here."

"You can keep me company," he suggested, leaning down to press a slow kiss to my lips.

I pushed him away quickly, eyes going over his shoulder to where his teammates were busy warming up. They hadn't even looked our way once. Draco squeezed my shoulders reassuringly.

"Relax, it's not like your brother's going to suddenly jump out from behind the stands."

"Sorry," I said, letting out a breath to calm myself, "I'm just so used to being secretive about this."

"Well just stay calm because I'm going to need you to do something for me during the match." I watched him curiously as he began to play with a strand of my hair. "Be my good luck charm?"

"I'm not sure about that –"

"Why not?" he pretended to sound offended, "When Potter was playing you were always his good luck charm. Now that he's not, you can be mine. Merlin knows we need some luck with the team we have."

"Fine," I agreed, reaching out straighten out his uniform. "Harry will murder me if he finds out."

"I'll protect you."

"Like hell you will," I snorted, "You'll be the first person he aims to hurt." Distantly I heard his captain call out for him and I looked briefly up at Draco only to glance away from him. I didn't need to look at him to see that he was smirking in that way he did whenever I suddenly became shy. "Don't get hurt or I'll hex you."

He chuckled outright, only stopping when I softly hit his chest. Reaching out to take my chin in his hand, he made me look up at him.

"I promise." Bringing his head closer to mine, he asked quietly, "How about a kiss for luck?"

I rose to my toes, crossing the space between us to kiss him. I had planned for it to be nothing more than a peck, not wanting to push luck, but of course Draco didn't comply. Wrapping an arm around my waist he pulled me into him, prolonging it.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?"

I froze against Draco, pulling back to mutter, "Harry."

Draco tensed and I swallowed nervously, pulling back to look at Harry as he approached us. I stood between the two of them, in case either of them saw the need to reach for their wands.

"Well Malfoy?" Harry demanded and I flinched under the sound of his voice. Draco reached out to take my hand comfortingly, standing unflinching even as he was subjected to Harry's most terrifying glare. Green eyes shifted from Draco to settle on me, "What is going on here?"

I struggled for words, not knowing what to say. Godric, he had been angry when addressing Draco. But when it came to talking to me, he had sounded so very disappointed. Merlin, I didn't want to ever disappoint him.

No matter how much I wanted to sound confident when I spoke to Harry, I really didn't. My voice came out as a whisper, "Harry –"

"We're dating Potter," Draco said from behind me, realising that I couldn't go on.

"What a joke Malfoy." Harry narrowed his eyes at Draco, "Whatever you have against me, leave my sister out of it."

"This isn't about you Harry," I snapped, suddenly finding my voice, "Godric, not everything is about you."

Harry, shocked by my sudden outburst, looked back to me. "So, you're really dating Malfoy then? As if I'd allow it."

"Allow it?" I repeated, voice deadly. "Since when did I need to ask you for permission to date someone?"

"Since that person was Malfoy!" he exclaimed as Draco's captain called him away.

I turned my back on Harry, growing weary and looked to Draco. He was hesitant to leave and didn't move even when his captain called out to him again. It took some convincing for him to get him to leave and when he did, I finally looked back to Harry and crossed my arms over my chest.

"You're not going to continue to date him."

"We've been dating since the end of my third year and you've had no idea," I declared, watching the shock cross Harry's face. "Merlin Harry, I don't interfere with your love life. Did you see me tell you to not date Cho?"

"Cho is Cho, Malfoy is Malfoy."

"Malfoy is Draco, and I'm me. I'm not an extension of you." With a sigh, I looked at Harry who was staring stubbornly back at me. "Tell me one reason that I can't date Draco and I won't. Give me on legitimate reason and I won't date him."

* * *

The quidditch game had ended with Slytherin catching the snitch as well as winning the game. The moment it had ended, Harry had forcefully made me walk to the castle and as I left, I briefly caught Draco's eyes. I had been practically frogmarched to the common room by Harry all whilst Hermione continually asked him what was going on. Once we walked into the common room Harry led me to his dorm room with Hermione following after us. Determined not to be alone, I gestured for Ginny to follow us.

Harry's big mouth couldn't keep anything a secret. In the safety of his dorm room, he announced my relationship to the other 3 people in the room and I had gone long past glaring at him. Still silence greeted his announcement.

It was broken by Ron's incredulous chuckle. "There's got to be some mistake. I mean, there's no way Malfoy would date – no way."

"Why is it so hard to believe?" I asked from where I was sat on Harry's bed.

My question flustered Ron whose mouth dropped open, "You haven't!" Crossing my arms defensively, I watched the older boy turn a very unflattering shade of red. "That's like consorting with the enemy."

"Honestly Ronald," Hermione scoffed from where she had been sat beside him. She left his side to join mine, patting my hand, "how is it that your way of thinking hasn't changed at all in the last year? Merlin, the _enemy_ really!"

Harry watched Hermione in silence, clearly shocked that she wasn't supporting him in all of his stubbornness. "He's not wrong, Mione. Besides, he's Malfoy!"

"Of course he is!" She threw her arms open in an exaggerated gesture, narrowing her eyes at my brother, "Merlin, you should know better Harry. We might have a problem with him but that doesn't mean she needs to have one too." Hermione turned to me, adding as an afterthought, "Of course personally, I don't know what you see in him. But I respect your decision."

"Thank you, Hermione," I said with a smile of relief, my eyes flickering towards Ron who was openly frowning at me. "Although, for that matter, I don't know what you see in _your_ him. But I respect your decision."

"He's Malfoy!" Harry exclaimed, sitting down beside Ron and together the two best friends were glaring at me and Hermione. "Why are you not getting this?"

"And I just bet you that his father's a death eater," Ron added, pointing a finger accusingly in my direction. "Do you really want to be dating the son of a man who's loyal to the person who killed your parents?"

"We don't know that Mr Malfoy is a death eater," Hermione said with a sigh, throwing Ron an irritated look. "Honestly Ronald, don't talk about things you don't understand."

"Hey why –"

"Shut _up_ Ron!" Ginny, who had been silent the whole time, said loudly as she pushed away from the wall. I watched her approach hesitantly, wondering how she'd react. To my relief, she took my other side and narrowed her eyes at her brother, "Besides, who are you to tell her who she can and cannot date?"

"Well," Ron floundered, "I –"

"Well I'm her brother," Harry said from his side and I rolled my eyes. Were we back to that again? Why didn't the two stubborn males realise that this conversation was going around in pointless circles.

"You still don't have the right," Hermione said firmly.

Ginny spoke before Harry could, "Godric knows that if Ron tried to tell me who I could and couldn't date then I'd hex him. From the spectacle the two of you have put on, you're lucky that you haven't been hexed yet."

"But he's using her," Ron cried dramatically, feeling greatly outraged. "He obviously wants to get to Harry –"

"Because I'm nothing more than Harry Potter's little sister, right?" I cut in icily, making Ron swallow the rest of his words. "Merlin, do you ever listen to yourselves. The world does _not_ revolve around Harry and my behaviour does _not_ have anything to do with either of you. Especially not when it comes to someone I'm dating. So, will you two tossers finally get that through your thick skulls instead of trying to tell me to break up with my boyfriend!"

* * *

The following morning, by the time I had come down to breakfast, the news of my relationship had taken the entire castle by storm. I wasn't surprised by the glares I was receiving from some of the Slytherin girls but I certainly hadn't expected the hall to turn silent when I entered it. It was as if they'd all been caught talking about me.

Clearing my throat, I hurried to the Gryffindor table and settled down for breakfast besides Ginny who passed me the plate of toast. I smiled gratefully at her and began to fill my plate.

"What have they been saying?" I asked curiously, "Is it as bad as the stuff that Hermione went through last year?

"I don't think so," she assured me with a smile. "I've overheard some utter rubbish though. Someone actually referred to you as the princess of light and him as the dark prince or some sort of drivel like that. They were wondering how he managed to tempt you to the dark side."

"Honestly," I muttered dryly, filling up my glass with pumpkin juice.

"Although, when I mentioned Malfoy, I had only been joking but you've really gone and nabbed him for yourself." Ginny shook her head in mock amazement. "Maybe it's the appeal of dating a bad boy."

"Oh please," I rolled my eyes as Harry sat down next to me, giving me a hesitant smile as he did so. Ron and Hermione settled down across from us and it seemed like Hermione was saying some rather strong words to Ron to stop him from speaking. "He's no bad boy Ginny; he's far too much of a whiner for that."

"Well if he ever hurts you then I can hex him for you," Hermione offered with a smile, pouring herself some tea. She thought for a moment before adding, "Although, he might find it worse if I turn him into a ferret."

I glanced towards Ron who was staring closely at me. He muttered to himself, "She's been imperio'd or given a love potion. I just know it –"

"Ronald," Hermione hissed under her breath, sharply pinching his side.

Ron rubbed at his abused side, shuffling further away from Hermione. "Merlin, there's no need to get the claws out."

Harry cleared his throat from beside me and I sent him a hesitant glance. When he began to speak, he wasn't looking at me and was instead, staring at the eggs on his plate with avid fascination.

"I was out of line," he apologised to my surprise. "I shouldn't have demanded that you break up with him or made it about me."

"It's alright," I said with a small smile, reaching out to ruffle his hair. He shifted away in mild annoyance. You'd have thought that since he was so sensitive about his hair, he would have learnt to comb it. "I've never been able to stay upset at you anyway; we're all the other has had."

"Just know this, if he hurts you then I'll kill him myself."

"Oh Harry," I said quietly, relief filling me at his acceptance, however unwillingly it was given.

Before I could hug Harry like I wanted to, silence filled the great hall again as all eyes shifted to the entrance where Draco had just entered. He, like I had done, stopped still in the doorway in surprise at the sudden attention. Behind him, Crabbe and Goyle shared a confused glance, before heading over to the Slytherin table for breakfast.

Draco remained standing where he was only to move to the wrong end of the hall as he approached the Gryffindor table. Whispers filled the hall but he ignored them. My eyes followed him as he walked towards me and stopped behind Ginny.

"Weaslette, move up," he ordered, surprising Ginny so much that she did so without a word.

Draco sat in the now vacant space, and helped himself to some food as if he wasn't behaving abnormally. Feeling the weight of my stare on him, he turned to face with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked quietly, vaguely realising that the silence of the great hall had yet to lift.

"They're going to talk anyway," he said casually, "So why don't we give them something to actually talk about?"

With those words, he pressed a kiss to my temple and turned back to his breakfast. He acted as though he didn't hear Harry grumble at the gesture, or the multiple gasps that echoed through the great hall.


	2. Epilogue: 3 Years Later

_3 YEARS LATER_

Sometimes it was hard to believe that the battle had been less than 6 months ago. I had fought in the battle – not that Harry knew that until it had all ended – and had seen the destruction of the castle first hand. It took countless hours of labour to ensure that Hogwarts was restored to its former glory, ready to welcome students when September 1st came around.

Sometimes, when the now seventh years and the students that had returned to complete their studies shared long drawn looks in the corridors, the younger students would stop and stare. We'd all caught the murmurs whispered between the younger students; those are the saviours, the ones that protected the castle, the ones that would protect them if something else happened.

Merlin, they had no idea how glad we all were that it was over. The war had made us into warriors, weapons wielded against Voldemort and now we were simply students. It was a difficult transition to make.

"Your potion's going to boil over," Draco warned against my ear, bringing me from my daze.

I looked to him in surprise and he gestured to my cauldron. Glancing at my cauldron, I gasped and reduced the heat slightly. Draco worked beside me, adding ingredients to the potion without needing to check the instructions and I was partially jealous of his natural aptitude for the subject.

"I know I'm gorgeous," he started, looking up at me with a smirk, "but _do_ try to concentrate on your potion, Potter."

"Were you always so conceited, Malfoy?" I wondered, looking back to the instructions.

No one had been more pleased than I had been when Draco returned to the school, tagging along with Harry, Hermione and Ron in preparation for the battle. Once the battle had ended, once we had put everything behind us, he was much more … brighter. He shone in a way he hadn't done since the beginning of sixth year. I had stayed by his side throughout the terror of his sixth year, watching him become withdrawn, gaunt and very unlike himself. This Draco, post war Draco, was carefree in a way I was certain he'd never been before. And I was eternally grateful for it.

Once our potions had finished brewing, we bottled a sample and handed it to Slughorn who beamed and let us leave. Gathering our things, we headed out into the hallway when Draco reached out to take my hand in his. Looking at our connected hands, I made no comment but smiled, leaning into his side.

"Where are you going now?" he asked, swinging our hands, "I've got quidditch practice."

"The library." I glanced up at him, "You should probably get going – you can't have the captain being late to the practice."

Draco rolled his eyes, "I'll walk you to the library. I doubt any of the team are there yet."

"If you're sure."

We walked to the library in a comfortable silence, neither of us seeing the need to fill it with mindless chatter. Walking into the library, Draco made a beeline for the quietest corner of the room and dropped me off at the table where Hermione was sat. She had been one of the first to finish her potion and had left even before Draco and I had. At the sound of our approach, she looked up and gave us both a smile, moving her things over so I could settle in next to her.

"I should get going," Draco said regretfully, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

"See you later."

Hermione watched him leave the library before turning her eyes back to me. She glanced back to the essay she had been working on, made sure to complete the point she had been making before setting her quill down. I waited patiently, knowing that she had something she wanted to say.

"So?" she prompted, crossing her arms.

"So, what?"

"Are the two of you back together then?"

Ah.

Draco had come to the decision that to protect me, he needed to break up with me. He had claimed that I'd have an even bigger target painted onto my back if I was dating him, regardless of the fact that he was the Order's spy within Voldemort's ranks.

Merlin, the moment he'd shown me his mark, I had taken him to Dumbledore for help and we had sorted stuff out. But he had still decided to break up with me. And now that he had returned to the school again, things were different between us. But were we still broken up?

"I'm not sure," I answered honestly, watching the older girl's eyebrows pull up in confusion.

"How can you not be sure?" Hermione shook her head slowly. "You kiss – I've walked in on you kissing enough times –, you hold hands all the time, you sit together most of the time."

"It's complicated," I explained quietly, seeing the unimpressed look she threw my way. "What? It _is_! The same way you're and Ron's relationship is complicated. The pair of you kissed but when Ron wanted to begin dating you gave him a list of rational reasons to put off dating until you finish at Hogwarts."

She shifted uncomfortably under my eyes. "Where's Ginny anyway?"

I made no comment on her changing the subject, "She's got Care for Magical Creatures."

Hermione nodded and we both settled into silence, working on our respective essays. An hour passed like that and I was only reminded of the time when my stomach began to rumble. I flushed a little at the sound but Hermione gestured for me to get to the great hall and that she'd be there shortly – she just needed to complete this paragraph.

I made my way out of the library, planning to head to the great hall when there was a call of my name. Glancing back at Draco, I waited for him to approach me.

"How was quidditch practice?" I asked, taking his hand when he held it out for me.

"I don't think I'm cut out for this captain stuff," he admitted, squeezing my hand. "I was so close to losing control and hexing our newest chaser four times throughout the entire practice."

"The second year? The one that things he's Merlin's gift?" Draco nodded and I tried not to snort, "You know, he reminds me of you."

Draco's frown bordered on being a pout which he wiped away quickly. "You know – there's a Hogsmeade trip coming up? I'd like to take you. I don't think we ever got to go out properly. So, what about it?"

"I'd like that," I said with a grin which only grew when he leaned down to press a chaste kiss to my temple.


End file.
